The Lady in the Bath
by RiversOfThought
Summary: The Shining movie


"Such a large hotel", I thought to myself while entering.

"What large rooms and scenery." I looked around, eating in the beauty that was the Overlook hotel.  
It was the 4th of July and the Summer Ball was today. I was invited by a friend and the year was 1920.  
Some say that is when all of the evil started, and from the looks of it, they are probably correct.

A nice young man brought my baggage to my room. Room 237 I believe it was. Lovely room, clean, welcoming, you would have never expected anything to go wrong here. Unfortunately enough though, something did go wrong here. Something wrong indeed.

So after the young man brought in all of my things, I thought it was time to get ready. Being that I was a young, single woman, I had to take some time to glossy up my appearance. I took my velvet purple dress out of my bag. Beautiful, it was. Never worn and cost my father $60 to buy.

We weren't wealthy you see. Margret was though. We had been friends from secondary school and she invited me as go with her to this Ball. " You will meet a wealthy man," She said. "He will fall in love with you, and you shall be saved from the burdens of poverty," She said.

How stupid and naïve I was back then. Going to an unknown place looking for the man of my dreams. If only I knew what events would unfold before me tonight…

I filled up the bath and was ready for a long soak. My dress was on the bed and my makeup was by the sink. I would be ready if a few hours and would look my very best.  
"What sorts of men would fancy me," I wondered. " Me, and ugly middle class girl… Maybe I shouldn't have come. Maybe Margret was wrong…"

Margret wasn't wrong though. She was absolutely correct. I did find a man, though he wasn't exactly looking to be the man of my dreams.

I was in my dress and putting on the last touches of my makeup. Nothing exotic, just some blush and eye shadow. I wasn't one to show off. If I wanted a man, I would be myself.

It was 7pm and I was ready to escort myself to the ballroom now. So many ideas in my young head, "would I find a man, would I not?" "Will Margret find a man, will she not?" "Will there be drinks there? Will I have a good time?" Little did I know all of these thoughts would be meaningless in less than 3 hours time.

The room was crowded. Some many well dressed people conversing about. When I found Margret I felt a little better though. She was chatting up a young fellow at the bar when I spotted her. Short blonde hair and a spiffy jacket. "What money," I thought, wondering if I will find a gentleman similar to hers.

I approached her and she introduced me to John. We all made small talk and then I decided to go on my own for a bit.

I went to the other side of the bar area and had myself a seat. I thought it be best to get a bit buzzed before initiating conversations. I was incredibly shy and awkward while sober.

"What will it be?" the bartender asked. Without even thinking I gave my reply. "Scotch on the rocks." I needed something hard and fast. Liquor would be that vice.

Probably about two sips in a man approached me. Tall, dark and handsome. I tried to act unfazed by his sight, but I'm sure he could have picked up on how nervous I was.

He took my hand and kissed it. "My name is Jack", he said. "Pleasure." Was the subtlest thing I could think of as a reply, I turned away from his as an attempted to play hard to get.  
He was ready to play.

"Mind if I buy you another drink?" he said.  
I ignored his question.  
"Mind if I know your name?" he said.  
I was tempted not to reply. Sure he was handsome, but was I ready to throw in the towel already? Of course I was! I was poor and ugly; nothing better would ever come my way.

I turned to him and gave a seductive smile. " Loraine," I replied.  
" What a beautiful name, Loraine. What a pleasure to meet you. If I can't buy you a drink, can I at least ask you for a dance?"  
" I would love to dance," I replied. Still holding my seductive smile.

We danced, Jack and I. Danced for what seemed like forever. We talked a bit too, but never about him. We spoke of my problems and how Margret brought me here. I did not mention my social status, but the way I was talking, I might as well have. We had fun, and he was a very good listener. I appreciated that in a man.

When the night ended, I kissed him on the cheek and was ready to return back to my room. As a turned away, he grabbed my arm. He drew my closer, and whispered in my ear.  
" Can I come with you upstairs."  
Being the innocent little urban girl, I had no idea what that exactly entailed. So out of my stupidity, I agreed to let this handsome mystery up into my room.

"This is it," I said. " Room 237."  
Jack wasted no time though. The second I opened the door he took my hand and pulled me in. He threw me on the bed…  
He produced to undress me while I lay in silence. To this day, I'm still not sure if I was silent from shock or silent from the enjoyment of the moment. All I know is that I lay there like a corpse. Funny how I would be one of those soon enough.  
He got on top of me and took advantage. He kissed me and did all of these things to me.

Things my father warned me, men only thought about. I felt like a whore. I let a man takeover and I did nothing to stop him. Even when he was done, I still did nothing.

After the event he remained on my bed, smoking. I had no power in me to tell him to leave, so instead I got up and told him I wanted a bath. I thought the momentary isolation would give me sometime to think this over.

He gave a laugh to my comment so I took my robes and started up the bath.

I sat in the bath and thought about the night. Why had I let this man take away my will. Why is he still in my room. Do I want to remain with him? How do I get out of this situation? What do I do?...

With all these questions in mind, I hear the bathroom door slightly open.  
" Jack is that you?" There was no reply. I got scared. A man took advantage of me and now he is opening my bathroom door. Was he not don having his way with me? What did he want…?

The door opened and he ran in laughing, He got to the side of the top and crouched down. " Lori baby we had a swell time, didn't we?" He grabbed my neck lightly.  
I gave a small and nod.  
" Baby I said, Didn't we?"  
" Yes", I replied. I realized at that moment that something was going to go wrong.  
"Now baby", He said, kissing my forehead. " I have some sad news for you. I crashed this party, and I have a very bad reputation. You see baby I'm wanted by the law. I killed a man once you see, and frankly I enjoyed it. I was stupid enough to give you my first name baby. Stupid Stupid Stupid. Well now Lori, we can't have you telling anyone I was here, huh baby?"

I began to cry. I did not know what to do. Things were moving to fast. Since when did going to a party lead to getting in this mess? How did this happen?  
" J-Ja-jack. I pr-pro-promise I won't tell a soul. You can leave and I'll forget this ever happened."  
" Aw baby, you are so sweet. Unfortunately I can't trust you. It's not just you though baby, so don't feel bad. It's all women. I can't stand those things. There is only one way to handle this I hope you understand."  
With that he kissed my forehead and began squeezing harder on my neck.  
That's the last thing I remember as a human. What an idiot I was.

And since the hotel was so large, it took people weeks to find me. Two weeks to be exact. Margret didn't look for me. She had John with her and in her lust she completely forgot about me. What a friend she was.

So there I was, dead, naked, in a bathtub. What a way to go. The irony of it was that nobody saw me with Jack, so he was never convicted. Another irony is that he worked right there, in that very hotel for many years after.

Once he returned to the room to visit me. His family was there that season. What a horror to imagine a man like that now had a family.  
I had tried to choke his son, but even after all of these years, I still wasn't as evil as him. So when he came himself I simply scared him. And to me, that was payback enough.


End file.
